How Does Diet Affect Metabolism?

Too Much Too Soon

Eating big portions of food has a profound effect on metabolism. When a huge meal is eaten, the body has to break down the food ingested. When the amount of food is too much for the body to break down, it uses what it can for energy and the rest is stored as fat. Not only does weight gain occur, but the metabolism also gets blunted.

Starvation Nation

There are a lot of people who go long periods of time without eating. The usual scenario is getting up in the morning, eating a bagel on the way out the door, then not eating again until 9 p.m. This blunts the body's metabolism. The body doesn't know when it is going to get fed again, so it goes into starvation mode, ultimately holding on to stored fat for energy This process in turn causes the metabolism to slow way down.

Eating Like a Horse

There is a term in the nutrition field called "grazing." This is a process of eating small, balanced meals every couple of hours throughout the day. Horses are good examples of animals that eat this way, and they have lean, sculpted bodies to prove it. Every time a small meal is eaten, the body utilizes that food for energy with no excess calories being stored as fat. The body burns calories to digest the food, which then repeats every time a meal is eaten. If this pattern is followed every day, it will not only increase metabolism, but it will also facilitate weight loss.

High, but Not for Long

Although it is definitely not a lifestyle plan, the high protein diet has been known to do wonders for rapid and short-term weight loss. When the body is deprived of carbohydrates and a high amount of protein is eaten, it resorts to stored fat for energy. This process is called ketosis. Ultimately, this leads to a revved up metabolism.

The Skinny on Fat

Eating a diet high in fat can have positive and negative effects on metabolism. Saturated fat found in such foods that are deep fried or cooked with butter, heavy creams and cheeses cause the metabolism to slow way down. This stuff is very high in calories and is very hard for the body to break down and digest, causing a negative effect on metabolism.

Unsaturated fats, or essential fatty acids as they are called, can actually raise metabolism when eaten in balanced proportions. One such fat is coconut oil and all of its subordinates. They have a substance called Medium Chain Triglycerides or MCTs, that have been known to give the body energy and increase metabolism by reducing stress on the pancreas. There is a good website attached with further benefits of coconut.